Irish Examiner view: Parties will now think through their by-election performance

Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin will be looking at their respective electoral strategies — as will Independent Ireland, who failed to translate support for the recent fuel protests into votes

Galway West provided a first by-election win for a governing party since 2014, while Dublin Central saw a breakthrough for the Social Democrats who celebrated the election of a second TD for the constituency. Picture: iStock 

By-elections rarely, if ever, favour governing parties, simply because they invariably offer an opportunity for voters to voice their frustration about any number of issues on the day.

That being the case, the present administration will, after their regular post-election analysis, try to paint a pretty picture upon scenarios which do not necessarily lend themselves to such rosy summaries of events.